Few and Far Between

From a “deeply talented” (The New York Times Book Review), award-winning writer comes an alternate history of Northern Ireland’s recent past that follows the last remaining residents of a haunted archipelago at risk of losing their home forever.

In 1958, soon-to-be Northern Irish Prime Minister Terrence O’Neill proposed draining Lough Neagh—the largest lake in Ireland—to create a seventh county for the North. O’Neill was widely mocked for his ludicrous idea, but in Few and Far Between, Belfast-based writer Jan Carson imagines a timeline in which the scheme proceeded, exposing an archipelago of tiny islands that became a refuge for those intimidated out of their homes during The Troubles.

Marion and Robert-John Connolly grew up on what’s colloquially known as “The Ark,” their father being a prominent anthropologist sent to study the unique community that sprung up there in the ’70s. Though most residents drifted back to the mainland after the ’98 Peace Agreement, the novel opens in summer 2017 with the siblings still living on the Ark as its caretakers, sheltered from modernity. They monitor the mysterious Far Side islands where ghostly figures linger and the land swallows secrets whole. Though with harmful algae blooming out of control and rising public sentiment against the cost of maintaining the Ark, rumors abound that the government plans to flood the lough. When a young anthropologist arrives for field research, the Connollys wonder if this up-and-coming scholar can help them win preservation status for the Ark before their home is submerged and they’re forced back to the Mainland.

Written with dark humor and a distinctive Northern voice, Few and Far Between is a novel about family and memory, toxic masculinity and modern womanhood, and the legacy of trauma that offers an illuminating look into the history of a complex place.